Crusader
by kaleidograph
Summary: Forced into a life of piracy at 16. Married by 23. Mother at 24. Widow at 25. A former Portuguese socialite learns that to survive, she must be as cutthroat as the pirates who shaped her. Parts of it are written in Portuguese and French. Please enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: Lesser Beings

Chapter 1 – Lesser Beings

**Nós somos outcast da sociedade. Talvez é a razão que nós somos a maneira nós somos. Não é algo que nós podemos ajudar. O Piracy é um vice que nós escolhamos não abandonar. Para viver pela borda de uma espada, nós somos julgados poucos seres pelo mundo como nós o sabemos.**

**We are outcast from society. Maybe it is the reason we are the way we are. It is not something we can help. Piracy is a vice that we choose not to relinquish. For living by the edge of a sword, we are deemed lesser beings by the world as we know it.**

**I didn't leave my home to change the way the world thinks about pirates. In fact, it is that contempt for our kind that is my impetus. I am fearless. I do not fear persecution or death anymore. I am a pirate. It is a dangerous and deplorable life to lead, but I have been at the mercy of the seas since I was sixteen years old. **

**I am not afraid. I am Rebecca, plain and simple. I am a lesser being of the Earth, and should lesser beings not have lesser feeling in them? I am not a shell. I may be lesser, but I am stronger than anyone will know. **


	2. Chapter 2: The Shrinking World

Chapter 2 – The Shrinking World

Rebecca de Cristao stood in the doorway and watched the doctors examine her mother in the quarantined room.

"Senhorita, você não pode estar aqui," the older gentleman doctor said to Rebecca.

"Don't tell me where I can and can't be in my own home," she spat back, fighting tears. The older doctor mumbled a brief word to the younger male doctor, who then closed the door. Rebecca turned around and peered down the stairs to see where the sound of footfall was coming from.

"Rebecca Dulcea, lá você é. Embale sua roupa e o que pertences você pode continuar sua parte traseira."

"Por que, Drusilla?"

"We have to go. Rebecca, Mummy asked me to take care of you, and I promised her I would."

"Is she going to die?"

"Eu não me encontrarei lhe. É provável."

"What is it? What's making her sick?" Rebecca couldn't hear Drusilla's answer, but it sounded something like "I don't know" in their native Portuguese.

Rebecca and her older sister, Drusilla, lived with their mother, Aurelia de Cristao in the seaside city of Lisbon, Portugal. Drusilla was twenty-one. Rebecca was five years younger. Two years ago, Aurelia had fallen ill, and the condition only worsened over the course of time. Their father, Julian de Cristao, had died six years before. The fortune of the de Cristao family had been squandered away. Now there was nothing left.

"Where will we go?"

"Mummy secured a place on board a ship for you, Rebecca. Hurry, there isn't much time. It sails at midnight."

"That's not what I asked you, Drusilla. WHERE ARE WE GOING?" she demanded.

"You're sailing to Tortuga. I won't be with you, but I will meet you in Tortuga when you get there."

Rebecca was both horrified and crestfallen all in one. First, her mother was slowly passing away. Now, her sister was abandoning her for who knows how long, and she had to find her way around in an unfamiliar place. She finished packing her bag and prepared herself for the worst.

"Mummy wanted me to give you this," Drusilla said, giving Rebecca a small, distressed and stained envelope. "She said not to open it until you were aboard the ship."

"Why?"

"I don't know what it says. Come on, it's time to go."

Drusilla led Rebecca out of the manse and out to the harbor area of Lisbon, where she saw a large ship docked at the marina.

"Be good, Rebecca. The captain's name is Remington. You will do well not to cross him."

"I'll remember that."

"I will see you in Tortuga. I will find you there."


	3. Chapter 3: The Monkey Shines

Chapter 3 – The _Monkey Shines_

Rebecca cried as she walked along the gangplank that seemed to be the bridge to her fate. The men of the ship were all surly and brusque. Already, she felt uncomfortable.

"Miss, this ain't a private cruise!" a fat man barked at her.

"Jagger, leave the girl be. Pardon the men, Miss de Cristao, it was not my intention to scare you."

"I assume you're Captain Remington?"

"That I am," he said softly. "I understand your mother has passed. I do extend my sincerest condolences to you and your sister."

"Thank you, sir."

"Please, there's no need to call me 'sir.' I get enough of that all day. Please, call me Alan."

"Alright, then. And you may call me Rebecca henceforth. Do you speak Portuguese?"

"Somente bastante para começar-me perto com os vendedores da fruta…"

"Oh, você é completamente bom! Sua pronunciação está ponto-em!"

"Obrigado. Je parle français bien mieux que le Portugais, cependant. Vous avérez-vous justement savoir le français ?"

"L'ampèreheure, mais moi. Ma mère s'est assurée ma soeur et I bien-versés dans beaucoup de langues."

"What other languages have you learned so far?"

"Just the Romance languages. And Latin, of course."

"Always a good language to study. Those who have a good grasp of it are the most intellectual people, I've found."

"Alan, where are you from?"

"I'm from England, originally. My family is from Wales."

"Is it lovely there?"

"Yes, very."

"Then what are you doing on a ship?"

"I was a sailor in the King's Navy for several years, and when my service time had expired, I wanted to remain on the seas."

"That's beautiful."

"It's my life. Welcome aboard the _Monkey Shines_, Miss Rebecca, and welcome home."

For the next three months, they made the harrowing journey from Portugal to Tortuga through both stormy weather and clear skies. Rebecca pulled her weight around the ship, cooking for the men on occasion and entertaining them with song and dance. Captain Remington made sure that Rebecca did not fall behind on her studies. He tutored her in arithmetic, grammar, history, and helped her work on her English in between stops to pillage and plunder. Rebecca enjoyed the aggressive lifestyle, and Alan enjoyed her company.

Captain Alan Remington was a former sailor in the King's Navy in his prime. Now, at the age of forty-six, he was nowhere near ready to resign to a life as a land-lubber. He enjoyed Rebecca's presence and developed a filial relationship with her over the months they spent on board. However, his intentions with the girl were all but respectable. His motto in life was "A sharp mind is the key to greatness." In tutoring Rebecca, he also taught her how to be a cunning, conniving pirate, and how to remain undetected while stealing. It was a double-edged sword: teach her well, but teach her to follow the wrong path.

Rebecca had nearly forgotten the little envelope Drusilla had handed her before leaving the mansion. _Time to open it_, she thought.

"My Dearest Rebecca Dulcea,

For several years I withheld information from you that you have every right to know. For this, I apologize. It was very hard for me to muster the courage to tell you this, and I hope that by the time you read this and I am laid in Earth that you will be able to forgive me. Know that I did this only to protect you, never to hurt you.

I am so sorry to tell you this, but Julian de Cristao is not your father. Your father is a man of little wealth and little morals. He is a pirate by the name of Hector Barbossa. He sails upon a ship known as the Black Pearl. I advise you not to become involved with this man. He will tarnish your immaculate reputation as it stands, and you will be helpless to stop him.

Hector knows he is your father, and has seen you only once when you were three years old. If you choose to find him, be careful, meu caro. Be careful, and be strong.

Love,

Your dear mother,

Aurelia de Cristao

P.S. – The necklace you wear was a gift from Hector. If you are wearing it and you meet him, he will remember you."

Rebecca gave a bleak smile and laughed to herself. This explained why Drusilla and she looked nothing alike. Drusilla had frizzy, untamed black hair, sunken brown eyes, and a very square face. Rebecca had sleek brown hair, lighter skin than Drusilla, and had a heart-shaped face. This explained it all. She touched the chain around her neck. It was a small silver chain that had a silver charm in the shape of a ship. She had had it ever since she was little. Now she knew where it came from.

Finally, in November, the Monkey Shines pulled into port on Tortuga. Rebecca didn't want to leave, but she knew she must find Drusilla.

"Alan, thank you for everything."

"Anytime, Miss Rebecca. Come home anytime you like. We are always out to sea, but we'll make port occasionally."

"Where can I find you?"

"Eh, out and about, normally. I hope we meet again, Miss Rebecca. You really did do wonders for the men; they can't quit babbling about you."

"I'm quite flattered, honestly."

"As well you should be."

"So this is goodbye?"

"Afraid so. Remember what I taught you?"

"A sharp mind is the key to greatness."

"Good girl. Carry that with you for the rest of your life, and I promise you will excel."

"Thank you."

"Adeus, Rebecca de Cristao!"

"Adeus, meu amigo! Eu vê-lo-ei logo! … Eu espero," Rebecca said wistfully, waving goodbye. She turned toward the town, wondering where Drusilla might be hiding. She stopped in a tavern to see if anyone had seen Drusilla.

"Excuse me, sir," she said to the man tending the bar," but have you seen my sister?"

"What she look like?"

"About my height, slightly taller, black hair, dark eyes. Speaks with a Portuguese accent, like me."

"Don't think I've seen her."

"Her name is Drusilla de Cristao. If you see her, please tell her Rebecca is looking for her."

"Right," the man said, hardly listening to Rebecca. She shifted her attention to the three women talking in a corner. They were all whispering, looking at Rebecca and then each other.


	4. Chapter 4: Tortuga

Chapter 4 – Tortuga 

"You're Rebecca?"

"Yes…"

"We've been waiting for you."

"Who are you?"

"Oh…" one blonde woman said lightly. "I'm Simone, this is Yolande, and the little one is Giselle."

"Pleasure."

"Drusilla used to stay in our house when she first got here. She always said you'd be here."

"Simone, just tell her."

"Brace yourself for this. Drusilla was killed a month ago."

Rebecca burst into tears. The three girls sat her at a table and gave her a cup of hot tea.

"Calm down, _fille jolie_. We will take care of you." Rebecca sipped her tea and tried to keep her head up. She wished that Alan was there to console her. A man came up to Simone and brushed his hand across her behind. Simone and Yolande laughed. It was then that Rebecca realized what they were. She may have been young, but Rebecca wasn't stupid. If she got involved with these girls, she knew it would lead to a life in a house of ill repute.

Rebecca bolted out of the tavern and out to the docks. Simone, Yolande, and Giselle followed at her heels. Rebecca looked around for her ship, but it was gone, a tiny speck on the horizon. She felt the sting of tears behind her eyes, and then she cried. She felt as if her stomach had been twisted into knots. Now she REALLY had nothing. Rebecca opened the letter her mother had given her before leaving Portugal and reread it over and over.

"_He sails upon a ship known as the Black Pearl_," Rebecca whispered to herself.

"The Black Pearl?" Yolande said, turning to her girls.

"I'm looking for my father."

"Aren't we all?" Yolande said coldly. Rebecca shoved the letter back into her rucksack and lunged at Yolande.

"Oooh, Kitty's got claws, Simone…."

"Shut up, yeh heartless Harpies," an extremely odd and drunk man bellowed.

"Looks like Kitty found what she was looking for…" Yolande smirked as the girls went back towards the tavern. Rebecca looked at the drunken man. Maybe he might be able to help her. After all, he had chased off the prostitutes.

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"I thought not. Come on, you need rest."

"Where are you taking me?" Rebecca screamed as the man took her by the wrist.

"You said you wanted to see the Black Pearl?"

"In a manner of speaking."

"I'll take you to her."

"Wait! Who are those girls?"

"Whores. And if you want to live a life of prostitution and be press-ganged into their society, then I suggest going with them."

"No, thank you."

"Precisely."

"Who are you?"

"Who I am is not the more pressing matter."

"Then what is?"

"Where."


	5. Chapter 5: The Invitation

Chapter 5 – The Invitation

"First off, you tell me who you are!"

"Ladies first."

"I asked you first," she demanded.

"Jack Sparrow. And you?"

"Rebecca de Cristao."

Jack pulled Rebecca into a different tavern. This one was much rowdier and smelled horribly.

"Rebecca, you're looking for the Black Pearl, right?"

"Yes."

"And if I remember correctly, you sailed in on the Monkey Shines?"

"Yes. Why is any of that important? I just crossed over from Portugal on that ship."

"How would you like to sail before our mast?"

"On the Pearl?"

"Yes."

"I thought only the Captain had rights to invite strangers aboard."

"Then it's a good thing I'm Captain." Rebecca laughed and Captain Jack ordered two pints of rum.

"So you'll let me stay on board?"

"Isn't that what I said?"

"Just asking. Will we actually do any honest pirating?" Jack laughed and nearly spit out his rum.

"HONEST pirating? My dear, there's nothing HONEST about pirating!"

"You know what I mean, Jack."

"I wager we might do our fair share of plundering, provided that you shut that hole in your face." Rebecca felt mildly insulted. Now she wasn't sure she wanted to see the Black Pearl, or even if this man was the captain like he said he was.

"Mr. Sparrow, I'm not daft. I know when someone is fooling me."

"How do you know I'm not fooling you?"

Rebecca picked up her bags and strode away, nose in the air. Jack clumsily followed after her, his amusing amble even more so affected by the quantities of rum he had imbibed.

"Wait! Wait, wait, Rebecca. You want to see the Pearl?"

"I thought I'd made that part clear…"

"Come around to the docks at midnight, and there you'll find a ship with black sails."

"The Pearl?" she said flatly, her Portuguese accent poking through very clearly.

"None other than."

"How will I know which one it is?"

"Because that will be the one I will be scaling the mast of." Rebecca couldn't help but laugh. The man could barely walk, much less climb up a mast.

"And I'll have carte blanche to access your ship?" she laughed.

"The highest privileges, madam," Sparrow slurred.

That night, Rebecca waited anxiously for the stroke of midnight. In the interest of punctuality, she left half an hour early. Sure as Sparrow had foretold, there was a ship at the docks with black sails, and Jack was sitting in the crow's nest, cradling his bottle of rum, sipping occasionally.

"Come down from there!" she called.

"Come up from down there!"

Then voices began to sound. Dirty faces were ogling the young girl, but she ignored them. Rebecca dragged her luggage aboard the massive-ish ship and the men eyed her carefully. Jack shimmied down the ropes to meet Rebecca on deck. It was hard to see her in the dark, but the lamplight was enough.

"Gentlemen, we have a lady aboard. Make her feel welcome here."

"Begging your pardon, Jack, but isn't that… bad luck?" A purple-faced, plump man said, lowering his voice so Rebecca wouldn't hear him.

"Ah. Mr. Gibbs, this is Miss Rebecca de Cristao."

"De Cristao? Milady, you've never been to Portugal, have you?"

"It's where I sailed here from… I thought Jack had told you about me. I'm looking for-" Jack covered Rebecca's mouth.

"Nothing. Just looking for a good time, that's all."

"Right. Where do you expect to put her up?"

"Captain's Quarters." Gibbs pulled Jack aside and huddled in closely, leaving Rebecca to wander around on deck.

"Why are you being so nice to the girl?"

"That girl you're speaking of is Hector's daughter."

"No!"

"Don't you remember Aurelia?"

"Aurelia?"

"The woman Hector was in love with about fifteen years ago. Remember, when we pulled into Lisbon and she was walking the streets?"

"Was she the skinny one or the horse-faced one?"

"The skinny one."

"Oh. Right! I remember her now. That's her daughter?"

"Precisely."

"So why all the trouble to bring her aboard?"

"I don't believe in chance or coincidence. Hector deserves to meet his daughter."


	6. Chapter 6: A Lady On Board

Chapter 6 – A Lady on Board

Jack escorted Rebecca below deck and made her a bed to sleep in.

"You must be tired."

"And you must be drunk."

"I am quite inebriated, thank you. Care for some rum?"

"No thank you."

"Suit yourself. You're welcome to stay as long as you like."

Jack and Rebecca both sat on the bed and she got a good look at his face. He was rather good looking, but much older than she was. Out of boredom, she took Jack's flagon of rum and swilled it down. It tasted both bitter and sweet at the same time.

"You must be hungry. Please, eat to your heart's content," Jack said. Rebecca was starving. The last time she had eaten, she was in the ever-pleasurable company of Captain Remington. That was nearly 24 hours ago. She was hungry, thirsty, tired, and needed a home. Hopefully this was it. Jack offered her apples, peaches, mangoes, a roasted pheasant, chicken, duck, and a glass of claret.

"This wine is amazing!" she exclaimed. "In Portugal, we get our wines from France and Spain. None like this. This is delicious!" Rebecca gobbled it up until she felt miserable.

"I daresay you might need to exercise off most of that food you just devoured. Come, let's take a walk."

Jack and Rebecca walked a lap around the Black Pearl, taking in the fresh air and the beauty of the ocean surrounding the ship. Before long, Rebecca began to grow anxious. She was aboard the ship and had no encounter with Hector Barbossa yet.

"Rebecca, meet the crew. This is Mr. Turner, Mr. Pintel, Mr. Ragetti, and you met Mr. Gibbs earlier. And this… is First Mate Hector Barbossa." Rebecca's stomach turned. She looked just like him. He _had_ to recognize her. Rebecca and Hector locked eyes. Jack noticed this was taking a bit longer than he had expected.

"You've met before?"

"Once or twice…" Hector said, still looking at Rebecca. He pulled her aside to speak to her in private. "What are you doing out here?"

"She died."

"The necklace. You're wearing it." Rebecca lightly touched the chain around her neck and pulled the charm out from under her blouse. Hector smiled. "Tell me, my dear… when did Aurelia tell you?"

"She didn't."


	7. Chapter 7: Interlude

Chapter 7 – Interlude

**If this tale is going faster than you can keep up with, then you feel exactly as I felt. Everything was happening so fast, it seemed like a blur to me. By this point in the story, you're probably wondering why my mother never told me that Barbossa was my father. Later in my life, I began to wish I had never found out at all. For the moment, everything was good. I had my father, and I had a home. Still, I needed some answers. I didn't believe Drusilla was dead. Those girls in Tortuga were prostitutes, and I knew they were trying to strong-arm me into working for them. Instinct told me that Drusilla was with them, but fear told me that I would be much safer if I left it alone. **

**When I met Captain Sparrow, my life changed. I had never been in love. I was only sixteen when I joined the crew. I sailed with them for two years, pillaging and plundering every wealthy port city in the Caribbean. It was a natural talent, which Alan had fostered in me and Jack seemed to bring out. Either way, pirate was in my blood. **

**My mother's occupation, until now, hasn't been discussed, or at least not in truth. She was not a street-walker. Aurelia Aguilar was a pirate, this is true. Before she was a pirate, she was a singer. My mother had years upon years of opera training, and had even performed for the King of France. After Drusilla was born, she became a pirate. After I was born, she became sick. My other father, Julian de Cristao, was an adviser to the king and queen, and therefore we were a family of substantial wealth. When Julian died, our money was spent on keeping my mother well. She died ten years after Julian, when I was sixteen. **

**The story does not end here. Two years after joining the crew of the Black Pearl, things began to fall apart. Jack and my father had been tenaciously trying to find a set of maps or at least the bearings of the Isla de Muerta. Jack was searching for wealth. Hector was searching for immortality. As for me, I was searching for much more than that. **

**I was searching for myself. **


	8. Chapter 8: Starry, Starry Night

Chapter 8 – Starry, Starry Night

Months passed. Rebecca had morphed into quite the pirate, displaying the same shrewdness that Alan had implanted in her. She used that craftiness to her advantage, earning more money and more respect than majority of the crew. In their most recent escapade, Jack and Rebecca posed as a priest and a nun in an attempt to purloin a set of maps from a mission. It was a successful heist, and to celebrate, they lifted a crate of alcohol from a gang of rum runners.

"Gentlemen… and milady… tonight, we drink! Tomorrow, we set sail for the Isla de Muerta!" Jack shouted to his troops, rum in one arm, Rebecca on the other. When the celebrations died down, Rebecca and Jack were the last ones left on deck.

"So tell me, Jack, what's on the Isla de Muerta that you want so badly? Riches?"

"Like you read about, love."

"Tell me."

"Why does a little bit of shine matter to you?"

"Pirate."

"Touché."

"Jack?"

"Hmm?"

"Where are you from? I've been on this ship for half a year and know hardly anything about you."

"There's not much to know."

"I'm curious."

"I'm from… here and there. My mum's six feet under, my dad's a hermit, and I enjoy long walks on the beach accompanied by several beautiful women and many flasks of rum." Rebecca laughed and looked up at the sky. Out on the open water, it was beautiful. Rebecca and Jack laid down on the deck.

"Look up."

"At what?"

"The stars. They're beautiful. See that one?" she said, pointing to a cluster of stars. "That's Orion."

"I see the North Star. That's the only one I know of. They all look like the North Star."

"That's Cassiopeia… and that one over there is Ursa Major. The little one that looks like it, but only upside down, is Ursa Minor."

"How do you know all this?"

"My sister and I used to go up on the roof and look at the stars. In Portugal it's much harder to see the stars. There's so much light."

"Interesting," Jack said, yawning. Rebecca scowled and took a drink of rum.

"Can I tell you something? And I mean, in complete confidence."

"Tell me anything, love."

"I've never been kissed."

"Is that so?"

"Aye… and I'd be ever so grateful if you'd be willing to remedy that… tonight."

"Your wish is my command, Miss Rebecca…" Jack said, bringing his lips to meet hers. It went from being just one kiss to something much more.

Hidden from sight, Hector Barbossa was watching Jack Sparrow seduce his daughter. He wasn't angry… he was furious. The last thing he wanted for Rebecca was for her to get involved with pirates, yet here she was, here she had been for the past six months, pillaging her heart out.

"Jack… I think I'd better go to bed," Rebecca said, getting up from the deck. She disappeared below deck and climbed into her hammock, separate from all the other men.

At that moment, watching her walk away, Jack fell in love with Rebecca de Cristao. Whether it was her innocent naiveté or her passionate kiss, he didn't know. Maybe it was both. For whatever reason, Jack was in love with Rebecca.

And Hector Barbossa was bound and determined to put an end to that, no matter what the means may be.


End file.
